Curious George Explores Initiatives

The Supreme Court of California will be at Boalt Hall on Tuesday to hear argument in Booth (our condolences to the Justices) and to field questions from students. For those interested in California government, democracy, or a sane and rational universe, the visit presents a grand opportunity to ask Chief Justice George about his views on the California ballot initiative process.

I posted about this a few weeks ago and was promptly shot down in the comments, but I continue to find remarkable the energy Chief Justice George is putting forth here. Consider the op ed he authorized for publication in Sunday's SF Chronicle. His are strong words:

Initiatives have enshrined myriad provisions into California's constitutional charter, including a prohibition on the use of gill nets and a measure regulating the confinement of barnyard fowl in coops. This last constitutional amendment was enacted on the same 2008 ballot that amended the Constitution to override the California Supreme Court's decision recognizing the right of same-sex couples to marry. Chickens gained valuable rights in California on the same day that gay men and lesbians lost them.

Setting aside the proper legal status of animals (about which I have no comment), it seems clear to me that he is correct: the ballot initiative process is cancerous to healthy government, is threatening to kill the state, and — along with 90% of the legislature — should be trashed for the mad-science-experiment-gone-awry type of governmental Frankenstein it has become.

I suspect, however, that at least a few of my fellow students at Boalt disagree. If you are among them, then please: pop the question on Tuesday afternoon and (politely) challenge his views. My guess is the Chief Justice would welcome it.